The Open Prosthetics Project

marev sent us a link to a
Dartmouth
Online article about the Open
Prosthetics Project. The OPP was started by Jonathan
Kuniholm, who
lost his arm to an improvised explosive device in Iraq. He wanted to
help other amputees by speeding up the rate of innovation in the field
of prosthetics. As in many fields today, the biggest impediment to
innovation is the use of patents and other "intellectual
property"
mechanisms by a few large companies to block smaller competition. Taking
a cue from the Open Source
software movement, they're assimilating good ideas for older prosthetic
designs such as the Trautman
Hook by reverse engineering them. They're also working on more
advanced mechatronic
prosthetics that draw on and may have applications to robotics.
They've also created the amusing but useful prosthetic
fishing rod. There are several ways you can help
including making a
donation. OPP is being helped out by the clever folks at Tackle Design, who you might
remember from an earlier
story as the group who created Bubba, the
ultra-low-cost DIY ordinance disposal robot for under $1000.